Hepatitis A vaccination to be offered to gay men to stem outbreak

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) today announced that in view of an unusual increased number of hepatitis A cases among men who have sex with men (MSM) positive for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-positive) in recent months, one-off hepatitis A vaccination would be arranged for MSM attending designated public clinical services as a control measure of the hepatitis A outbreak.

Hong Kong/CIA

Speaking on the latest situation of hepatitis A at a press conference today, the Controller of the CHP, Dr Wong Ka-hing, said that since August 2016, an unusual increase in the number of hepatitis A cases affecting HIV-positive MSM attendees of the DH’s Integrated Treatment Centre (ITC) had been detected. A total of 13 cases were recorded from September 2015 to 2017 as of the end of January, compared to generally zero to two per year from 2006 to 2015.

Epidemiologically, all patients are men aged from 26 to 48, with zero to three cases per month from August 2016. Clinically, five also had recent onset of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as syphilis, chlamydia infection and gonorrhoea.

“Our epidemiological investigations so far have not identified a common food or water source among these cases. With reference from overseas experience, our epidemiological and laboratory investigations coupled with their clinical presentations suggest that male person-to-person sexual transmission may have accounted for this hepatitis A outbreak,” Dr Wong said.

“Hepatitis A vaccine is safe and effective in preventing the infection. The World Health Organization recommends hepatitis A vaccination for high-risk groups, such as travellers to endemic areas, MSM and chronic liver disease patients. To control the further spread of hepatitis A, as a one-off measure, the Government will provide two doses of hepatitis A vaccines, to be given at least six months apart, for target MSM for free from tomorrow (February 3),” Dr Wong said.

The vaccination arrangements for target MSM groups are as follows:

The ITC (Tel: 2116 2888) will inform its current MSM attendees for vaccination;

The AIDS Clinical Service of Queen Elizabeth Hospital (Tel: 3506 5855) and the Infectious Disease Special Medical Clinic of Princess Margaret Hospital (Tel: 6461 0613) will also inform their current HIV-positive MSM patients for vaccination; and

In addition, the CHP will step up health education and publicity based on its Red Ribbon Centre’s ongoing community programmes for MSM in collaboration with non-governmental organisations to raise their awareness of the risk of contracting hepatitis A via sexual transmission, promote safe sex, and encourage them to consult a doctor if necessary.

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